Pinocchio Meets the Lion King
Pinocchio Meets the Lion King ''is a crossover fan fiction story focusing on the characters from the original 1940 movie, "''Pinocchio" and the 1994 classic, "The Lion King." The plot consists of an earthquake destroying Pinocchio's village and his father, Geppetto, being killed by the disaster, but his ghost comes back and transforms the puppet into a lion cub, and Pinocchio's journey in the Pride Lands begins. The story is also followed by a non-existent, untitled sequel. Both stories are written by CynWann. Plot The fiction begins with Geppetto reading Pinocchio a bedtime story, but the young wooden lad wants to hear another one. Geppetto gives in and begins to read his son one more story, but just as he is about to, an earthquake shakes the workshop. Geppetto and Pinocchio get out of the house before it collapses. The disaster becomes worse when the ground below them splits in half, separating Pinocchio from his father and conscience, Jiminy Cricket. Geppetto manages to reach the puppet before the ground is torn completely. Geppetto gets Pinocchio onto a ledge that can only support his weight and saves his son's life, but unfortunately, he cannot save himself from the disaster. In the aftermath of the earthquake, buildings are collapsed, there is debris everywhere, and the earth is cut open like a large gorge. Pinocchio makes his way through the debris to find Geppetto and Jiminy. He keeps searching for them until he comes across a large pile of rubble and finds a human hand sticking through it. To the puppet's horror, he discovers Geppetto buried under it and digs through the rocks to get him out. Thinking the old man is sleeping, Pinocchio, panicked and frantic, tries several times to get his father to wake up, but then, at the last minute, finally realizes he has been killed. A heartbroken Pinocchio mourns over the loss of his only parent and stays with Geppetto's deceased body until some rocks block the area, and the puppet gets out of there in the nick of time before they are able to trap him. Pinocchio continues to look for Jiminy, but only finds his small top hat on some debris, and believes he was killed by the earthquake as well. He finds a way out of the damage and soon sees a strange light in the distance. When Pinocchio gets close to it, the light explodes into the sky, forming an aura around him. Things get even more bizarre when Geppetto, in the form of a ghost, appears in front of his son. Pinocchio is shocked and frightened when he sees this, and before he even knows what happens, his father's spirit, now in the form of an owl, lifts the unsuspecting puppet into the air and transforms him into a lion cub. (Reminiscent of "'Brother Bear'") A few seconds later, it is revealed that Jiminy has survived the ordeal. Once the cricket dusts himself off, he begins to call and whistle for Pinocchio. His worry about the puppet and his safety turns to shock and trauma when he finds his friend in the form of a lion cub. When Jiminy tries to ask Pinocchio what happened to him and where Geppetto is, Pinocchio's only response is cub grunts and growls. The two then try to find a way out, but when they do, other survivors of the earthquake panic when they see Pinocchio running across the remains of the road, and think he is a wild animal on the loose. A tough merchant grabs Pinocchio by the scruff of the neck, sending Jiminy flying off the puppet's/"cub's" back. Oblivious to the cricket running after Pinocchio, the man takes him away as he screams and squeals for his conscience pitifully. Determined to try and rescue Pinocchio, Jiminy follows the merchant in the direction he is taking him. Pinocchio is forced and shoved into a wooden crate, and is about to be brought to Africa in a wagon. Jiminy sneaks into Pinocchio's crate to reunite with him. About 7,566 miles later, the wagon ends up in an accident and causes Pinocchio's crate to tumble down a steep incline and smash to the ground, knocking both him and Jiminy out. It begins to rain and a lion's shadow looms over the two characters. The unseen animal picks Pinocchio up and carries him back to his territory, not noticing Jiminy at all and leaving him behind. The next morning, a very sore Pinocchio finally wakes up from his blackout in unfamiliar surroundings. The lion who saved his life is none other than Simba, King of the Pride Lands. When Pinocchio comes to his full senses, he starts to notice his transformation and is horrified that he has turned into a lion, while being unaware of how or why it's happened. When he tries to give Simba an explanation of what he is, Pinocchio stops himself from telling this mighty beast, as he is afraid Simba would not believe him if he told him he is actually a living, wooden puppet. Jiminy wakes up from his blackout and notices Pinocchio is gone, so he frantically searches for him again, and tries to ask for help, but none of the animals of the Pridelands listen or pay attention to him, and most of them think he is talking crazy and out of his mind. The cricket spends many hours trying to find Pinocchio. After gaining the strength to walk again, Pinocchio is given a tour of the pride by Simba, where he meets Rona, a hyperactive, friendly lioness cub.